A critical part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Europe Railway Express has expanded by more than 20 percent a year in recent years. However, over the past year, the railway’s growth has slowed dramatically. Its business has declined with most European countries—with the exception of Russia, which now dominates Europe’s trade with…

Commentary The takeaway from a flurry of high-level meetings is that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping is happy to work with any country willing to let Beijing rewrite the international order. Since consolidating power last October, Xi has met with more than 25 heads of state. His recent negotiation of a peace deal…

On International Reporters Roundtable: Suddenly, all eyes are on Africa. First Lady Jill Biden on a diplomatic tour of Kenya and Namibia. Contested Nigerian elections all over Twitter. China and Russia conducting joint military exercises with South Africa. Why all this attention? What makes Africa so essential to the global power balance at this time?…

A recent visit to Africa by China’s newly-appointed foreign minister, Qin Gang, has restoked fears of the Chinese Communist Party moving to supplant the United States as a principal foreign partner on the continent. Qin’s five-nation Africa tour (Ethiopia, Angola, Benin, Gabon, and Egypt) from Jan. 9–16 came less than two weeks after his appointment….

The United States is signaling plans for a more active economic presence in several African countries as the Chinese regime’s Belt and Road Initiative stakes its influence there. The Chinese infrastructure plan has also been dubbed “debt trap diplomacy.” Under it, over $100 billion have flooded into African countries over the years. But why is…

Commentary Chinese leader Xi Jinping must feel like he is playing a game of whack-a-mole. After years of easy political, economic, and diplomatic gains, he has more recently had to deal with a series of problems, one popping up after another. His draconian COVID-19 policies have set back the economy and now have given rise…

Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man, has stepped in to help countries escape economic hardship caused by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Adani is part of a movement of increasing resistance to BRI. The Indian billionaire predicts that it will lead to growing isolation for China. As of Nov. 27, Adani was the richest person…

After the recent exposure of international fraud and human trafficking that victimized thousands of Chinese-speaking nationals from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, details about the fraud syndicates are surfacing as more rescued victims speak up. Much information has pointed to the Communist regime’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) developers based in Cambodia as the main…

Following Lithuania’s departure from the East Europe forum, that is led by China, in May 2021, Latvia and Estonia announced last week that they are also leaving. Meanwhile, the Chinese communist regime put sanctions on Lithuanian officials for visiting Taiwan. Experts point out that the Baltic countries leaving China’s “17+1” bloc is a serious blow to…

Since Sri Lanka announced its bankruptcy, voices in mainland Chinese news media have been scrambling to propose solutions on how to recover billions in investments that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) loaned to the country through its Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at expanding the communist regime’s infrastructure projects overseas. Sri Lanka, once known as…